1 Samuel 10 - confident attributes promised: The Spirit of God

The attributes of being filled with the Spirit: 10:1-12

Protection: 1 Samuel 10:1–2 “Then Samuel took the flask of oil, poured it on his head, kissed him and said, “Has not the Lord anointed you a ruler over His inheritance? “When you go from me today, then you will find two men close to Rachel’s tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say to you, ‘The donkeys which you went to look for have been found. Now behold, your father has ceased to be concerned about the donkeys and is anxious for you, saying, “What shall I do about my son?” 

Provision: 1 Samuel 10:3–4 ““Then you will go on further from there, and you will come as far as the oak of Tabor, and there three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a jug of wine; and they will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you will accept from their hand.”

Power: 1 Samuel 10:5–7 ““Afterward you will come to the hill of God where the Philistine garrison is; and it shall be as soon as you have come there to the city, that you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and a lyre before them, and they will be prophesying. “Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you mightily, and you shall prophesy with them and be changed into another man. “It shall be when these signs come to you, do for yourself what the occasion requires, for God is with you.”

When the Spirit works, others notice: 10:8-16

1 Samuel 10:8–12 ““And you shall go down before me to Gilgal; and behold, I will come down to you to offer burnt offerings and sacrifice peace offerings. You shall wait seven days until I come to you and show you what you should do.” Then it happened when he turned his back to leave Samuel, God changed his heart; and all those signs came about on that day. When they came to the hill there, behold, a group of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him mightily, so that he prophesied among them. It came about, when all who knew him previously saw that he prophesied now with the prophets, that the people said to one another, “What has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?” A man there said, “Now, who is their father?” Therefore it became a proverb: “Is Saul also among the prophets?””

The Spirit is not of the world

Galatians 5:16–17 “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.”

Romans 8:5–8 “For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”

Walking in the confidence of the sufficiency of the Spirit: 10:17-27

1 Samuel 10:20–22 “Thus Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot. Then he brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its families, and the Matrite family was taken. And Saul the son of Kish was taken; but when they looked for him, he could not be found. Therefore they inquired further of the Lord, “Has the man come here yet?” So the Lord said, “Behold, he is hiding himself by the baggage.””

Saul was put in a position He could clearly see he was inadequate for, and he shrunk away, not realizing the attributes that were credited to Him with the Spirit of YHWH.

As a Christian and a leader, we are called to a life that in our own strength is impossible. Living out the teachings of Jesus and going straight against the grain of society is absolute foolishness without the help of the supernatural God.

We can be bold IN CHRIST

In our inadequacy, we showcase God’s supremacy

Genesis 2:20-23, 1 Corinthians 3:6.

Deuteronomy 8:3 ““He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.”

God is the one who speaks, and brings sufficiency from need, material from immaterial, everything from nothing

John 15:5 ““I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”

As soon as we realize our own inadequacies and start abiding and finding strength in Christ through the Spirit, we can take on the challenges we face knowing we do not go through them alone. John 14:16-18.

Follow God’s leading and have confidence in knowing God is with you

Going back to 10:1, and 1 Samuel 10:17-21 - Saul personally knew, and all the people knew what Saul was called to do, naysayers still loomed

1 Samuel 10:23–27 “So they ran and took him from there, and when he stood among the people, he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward. Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him whom the Lord has chosen? Surely there is no one like him among all the people.” So all the people shouted and said, “Long live the king!” Then Samuel told the people the ordinances of the kingdom, and wrote them in the book and placed it before the Lord. And Samuel sent all the people away, each one to his house. Saul also went to his house at Gibeah; and the valiant men whose hearts God had touched went with him. But certain worthless men said, “How can this one deliver us?” And they despised him and did not bring him any present. But he kept silent.”

We see a similar pattern in Matthew 28:17 “When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful.”

Jesus knew who he was: Matthew 28:18 “And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”

His disciples knew who He was: John 20:27–28, 31 “Then He said to Thomas, “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.” Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!””

Luke 24:44–46 “Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day,”

In spite of all the things witnessed, There were doubters, this didn’t stop Jesus from fulfilling His purpose. He didn’t allow others false views of Him to hinder His ministry. He continued to build His church through the Spirit, you can read about this in Acts. - Matthew 16:18, Acts 1:1

We should not allow the doubters to effect our decisions when we are following the LORD. If we ask God for wisdom and follow Him, continue to take steps of faith, knowing that the impossible is possible With the God who will never leave us nor forsake us. Knowing that as a Christian we are indwelled and sealed with the Spirit, Our confidence is derived from the God of immeasurable riches and wisdom, not ourselves. Romans 8:14-16

Take confidence because God always does what He says.

1 Samuel 10:27b NLT - “Nahash, king of the Ammonites, had been grievously oppressing the people of Gad and Reuben who lived east of the Jordan River. He gouged out the right eye of each of the Israelites living there, and he didn’t allow anyone to come and rescue them. In fact, of all the Israelites east of the Jordan, there wasn’t a single one whose right eye Nahash had not gouged out. But there were 7,000 men who had escaped from the Ammonites, and they had settled in Jabesh-gilead”

(This paragraph, which is not included in the Masoretic Text, is found in a Dead Sea Scroll). Although it isn’t found in other manuscripts, it is a valuable insight to the history of the time, just later in chapter 11:2, it verifies what the dead sea scrolls had claimed.

this is a remarkable accuracy to what God said would happen in Numbers 33:55 “‘But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall come about that those whom you let remain of them will become as pricks in your eyes and as thorns in your sides, and they will trouble you in the land in which you live.”

here are people that Israel had failed to drive out, and they quite literally became the thorns, to gouge out the eyes of Israel.

Judges 1:28 “It came about when Israel became strong, that they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but they did not drive them out completely.”

Judges 11:32–33 “So Jephthah crossed over to the sons of Ammon to fight against them; and the Lord gave them into his hand. He struck them with a very great slaughter from Aroer to the entrance of Minnith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel-keramim. So the sons of Ammon were subdued before the sons of Israel.” - NOT wiped/driven out

whatever God promises, good or bad, He follows it through, Numbers 23:19 “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?”

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of promise!

Ephesians 1:13–14 “In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,

who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.”

Ephesians tells us that because of the Spirit, we have been united into Christ, and now have full access to the riches of the glory of God.

The power

Ephesians 1:19 “and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might”

2 Timothy 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.”

The Protection

2 Thessalonians 3:3 “But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.”

2 Corinthians 4:8–9 “we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;”

John 10:28–30 “and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. “I and the Father are one.””

The Provision

Romans 8:32 “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?”

Matthew 6:33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”